Live King
is a Monster that appeared in the TV series, Ultraman Taro. He appeared in episodes 2 and 3, "At That Moment The Mother of Ultra Was" and "The Mother of Ultra Always" (respectively). Subtitle: Character History 'Ultraman Taro' Initially found as a hole along the Tama Riverbed that swallows everything dropped into it by Kenichi Shiratori and his friends, the monster Live King was first seen hibernating underground, with the hole being its open mouth. While initially innocuous, the gaping hole became a pitfall that entrapped the monster Cosmo Liquid, entrentching its foot during its fight with Ultraman Taro. After being struck with the hero's Bracelet Lancer attack, Cosmo Liquid dissolved itself and fell into Live King's stomach, where it began to be digested by the resting monster. The following day, Kenichi's dog, Pochi, accidentally fell into the hole. In a rescue attempt, Kotaro Higashi followed the dog into the hole, where their presence caused Live King to erupt from the earth, its stomach swelling from what was assumed to be irritation caused by indigestion. As ZAT arrived to handle the case, they were able to spot Kotaro using their X-Radar, and thus began an attempt to free Kotaro from Live King's stomach. Their first plan of operation was to puncuture a hole in Live King's abdomen with a hollow pipe, thus allowing Kotaro and Pochi an exist. The pipe was attached with little issue, as Live King began spouting liquids from that opening. However, Live King soon removed the pipe, and it was revealed that the liquid flowing out was not body fluids, but Cosmo Liquid, who had survived the digestion process and was furious towards the laughing Live King. In sheer frustration, Kenichi flew a remote controlled plane into Live King, jamming the aircraft in the monster's nostril and causing it to sneeze. This sneeze was to become the inspiration for ZAT's next strategy. Ordering one metric ton of black pepper, ZAT's own leader, Yutaro Asahina, departed in a Sky Whale with an operation in mind. Meanwhile, Cosmo Liquid attempted a rage-filled assault on Live King, who simply shrugged off the physical blows in addition to a natural gas container thrown at its face. As the fighting between the monsters reached a stalemate, Yutaro deployed an intense mist of pepper from the Sky Whale, causing both monsters to sneeze uncontrollably. The intense sneezing, combined with a headbutt to the stomach from Cosmo Liquid, caused Live King to sneeze Kotaro and Pochi out of its body. With Kotaro back in action, ZAT began to seriously combat the monsters. The relentless assault from ZAT proved futile due to not only the presence of multiple monsters, but also due to the inherent toughness of the duo. As the two moved closer and closer towards Tokyo proper, Kotaro attempted to suggest the idea of freezing the monsters solid; an idea that was shot down due to its impossibility for the technology of the time. Disappointed but still driven, Kotaro transformed into Ultraman Taro to combat the threats. Initially dodging Live King's fire and confusing it with his agility, Ultraman Taro was ultimately caught by Cosmo Liquid's chameleon-like tongue and tossed into the Tama River, where Live King then went to break Taro's arm at the elbow with one crushing step. Now gravely injured and trapped between the two monsters, Taro was volleyballed between the beasts until he performed a lucky dodge, causing the beasts to strike each other and collapse through a building. Seizing the opportunity, Taro froze the two monsters solid with his Ultra Freezer. With ZAT crushing Cosmo Liquid with a spiked mace, Taro pulverized Live King with his Storium Ray. The monster seemed to resist its own impending death twice before exploding into pieces, with a single piece falling near the Shiratori residence. That night, as Kotaro was recovering from his broken arm, Kenichi heard a familiar laughter outside as he found the family chicken coop to be empty of chickens. Live King had survived the encounter and regenerated. With its appetite open, Live King began to feast on the neighborhood's chickens, devouring thousands within a few hours. With Live King lurking in the Tokyo underground, ZAT attempted to lure the monster out with livestock and projected sounds of chickens and pigs in the suburbs. The plan worked, and Live King resurfaced to feed, only to face the full might of ZAT. After some combined fire and a cannon shot from the Rabbit Panda that punched a flaming hole in its stomach, Live King appeared to have gone down, only to gain a second wind and charge towards ZAT's encampments. Pushed over by the continuous barrage, Live King fell atop of Kotaro, trapping him beneath its massive weight. As the situation continued, Mother of Ultra arrived after her long travel from the Land of Light to rescue her son, braving Live King's flame and pushing the monster aside to allow Kotaro's escape. Kotaro transformed again into Ultraman Taro, but in his weakened state, his punches had no effect on Live King as the monster directed its aim at his wounded left arm and struck at that joint exclusively. Seeing her son's pain, Mother of Ultra utilized her Mother Ray on Taro's wound, healing the hero and giving him the second wind necessary to overpower Live King and knock it unconscious. Just as Taro was about to destroy Live King a second time, Kenichi reminded the Ultra that Live King would simply regenerate. Heeding the earthling's advice, Taro attempted to lift the kaiju into space, where it can be destroyed. Live King would pester Taro one last time by being too heavy for him to carry alone and causing one of his legs to sink into the ground, but Mother of Ultra aided her son again by lifting the Kaiju with him. In the safety of space, Taro's Storium Ray in conjunction with his mother's Mother Destruction Ray obliterated Live King a second time, ensuring its defeat. Weapons and Abilities * Flames: Live King is able to spew a concentrated stream of fire from its mouth * Incredible Strength: Live King is incredibly powerful. Even amongst a sea of other monsters, few can boast the ability to break an Ultra's limbs with such ease. * Regeneration: True to its subtitle, Live King is able to regenerate itself, even from tiny fragments, within an extremely short period of time. The ability seems to have no limits while Live King itself remains on Earth. Behind the scenes Portrayal * Live King's designer is unknown * Live King's various "warts" are wire operated, and made to move independently during shooting. Notes * to be added Gallery * to be added References Category:Ultraman Taro Monsters Category:Beryudora's Left Arm